European Commission
Europe 2020

Deepening the single market

Growth and job creation depend on healthy, well connected markets, where competition and consumer access stimulate business and innovation.

Several obstacles have still to be addressed:

• bottlenecks to cross-border activity
• insufficiently interconnected networks
• uneven enforcement of single market rules
• legal complexity from having up to 27 different sets of rules for some transactions

Work is also needed to improve access to the single market for small businesses and to develop entrepreneurship, e.g. by

• simplifying company law (bankruptcy procedures, private company statute, etc.)
• allowing entrepreneurs to restart after failed businesses.

Individual consumers should be able to buy goods and services from other EU countries with greater ease and confidence, in particular on-line.

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Investing in growth

The financial crisis has had a major impact on the capacity of European businesses and governments to finance investment and innovation projects. To achieve its objectives for Europe 2020, the EU needs:

• a regulatory environment that ensures effective, secure financial markets
• innovative instruments to finance the necessary investment - including public-private partnerships.

These long-term growth priorities have been taken up in the Commission's proposals for the next multi-annual financial framework (2014-2020) of the EU.

At present, the European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund and Cohesion Fund together account for more than one third of the EU's overall budget.

These tools help to ensure that money is invested effectively in order to support smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

EU funding is helping to support:

• More and better jobs
• The development of new technologies
• Cutting edge research
• High-speed internet access
• Smart transport and energy infrastructure
• Energy efficiency and renewable energies
• Business development
• Skills and training

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External policy instruments

To foster growth, the EU must encourage trading in open, fair markets worldwide, within a rule-based international framework. It will promote:

• external aspects of various internal policies (e.g. energy, transport, agriculture, R&D)
• trade and international macroeconomic policy coordination
• assertive and effective participation in international fora such as the G20, to shape the future global economic order.

The EU also wants to build strategic relationships with emerging economies, to discuss issues of common concern, promote cooperation on regulation and other matters, and resolve bilateral issues. In this context, the Commission presented a new  trade strategy in November 2010.

The EU is already developing a real partnership with developing countries to help eradicate poverty, promote growth and fulfil the Millennium Development Goals.

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